O HINDUS OF AMERICA, COME HOME (2)

I have read the many protests on FB by USA Indians, praising the American way of life and highlighting the fact that there is still so much poverty in India and that the standard of living there is abysmal. Is it? In Washington itself, when you walk around, you can pass in a few seconds from the poshest district to one where poverty reigns and you see blacks either stoned out of their minds or begging for a few dollars. Whatever the qualities of the USA – and I for one think it always stood for freedom and still does today, being the only country daring to stand up to Islamic extremism- it is still a nation of gun totting cowboys who think that owning a Browning makes you a man and where mental cases shoot their classmates as if they were still in the Far West.

I would like to stress again that 90% of the Hindus living in America have become self centred, selfish, have forgotten that they owe a debt to India, which gave them education & values, & have often reneged on their Hindu-ness. No people symbolizes this more than the Marathi community in the USA, We recently attended a BBM conference in Los Angeles (http://www.bmmonline.org/), the largest gathering of Marathi’s in the USA. Mr Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister, had written a letter to their President Sunil Suryawanshi, so that I could address the convention about the Shivaji Maharaj Museum I am building in Pune. Now Shivaji Maharaj is a hero for all Marathis, but Sunil and his second Sanjay Kulkarni, made sure I never got a slot to talk. Also we found that most Marathis staying at the Marriott Hotel Anaheim California, were content eating, chatting with friends, doing selfies and had no or little interest in the sessions, some of whom were interesting, like the one on NGO’s, which had an attendance of 6 out of 4000 registered persons. See their website: https://www.facebook.com/sunil.suryawanshi.581

Do you know why the Marathis are hopelessly divided and ‘secularized today, they the inheritors of the great Shivaji Maharaj who fought the Moghols invaders and was entirely devoted to Mother India? This is mainly because the Peshwas, who ruled Maharashtra till the British came, were Chiptpavan Brahmins. In the end, like many dynasties, they became corrupt and amassed immense wealth, hence generating the dislike of the Marathas, who constitute the majority caste of Maharashtra, originally belonging to the Kshatriya , but later of many of the peasant castes. When Nathuram Godse, who was a Chitpavan Brahmin, killed GANDHI, THERE WAS A SERIES OF RIOTS AGAINST BRAHMINS ALL OVER Maharashtra. This was exploited by politicians, particularly Yashwantrao Chavan, Sharad Pawar’s mentor, to garner votes, but also by later politicians of the NCP, who encouraged anti Brahmanism, the same way in was done in Tamil Nadu, where most Tamil Brahmins emigrated all over the world. Today, there are many followers of Shivaji Maharaj, who are either Marathas or even Dalits, have converted to Buddhism or are simply followers of Ambedkar, but still worship Shivaji Maharaj. But they hate Brahmins, Hinduism, the Vedas and caste. This is why the greatest exponent of Shivaji Maharaj today, Babasaheb Purandare, also a chitpavan brahman, was never able to build a Museum to Shivaji and has periodically faced the opposition of Dalits and some section of the Marathas. In fact recently, the anti-Brahmin outfit Sambhaji Brigade has taken strong umbrage to the Devendra Fadnavis government’s decision to honour Babasaheb Purandare with the prestigious ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ award and threatened violence.

Nevertheless, I want to honour those elder Hindus who are true activists in the USA: Mr Narain Kataria in New York, Prakash Wagmare and Mrs and Mrs Kamath in New Jersey, Amitabh Sharma and Raj Gandhi in Atlanta, Avadesh Agarwal in LA, Mr Prasad Yalamanchi in Chicago, and also the younger generation: Mihir Meghani, Khanderao, Raghu Chadive in Portland, Vinesh Virani in Chicago, and many others whom I cannot name here.

I know, I know, the reservation quotas in India are unfair. There is still corruption, bureaucracy, red tape. You cannot buy a BMW as easily as in the US, where the car is literally given to you. Talent is not always rewarded as in the USA. Yet I have lived in India for 45 years. That is the difference between you and me, my NRi’s brothers and sisters : you have left India and settled abroad. I have left abroad – that is Europe my continent of birth – and settled in India. This is the true path – in fact many westerners have started coming to India in search of jobs and knowledge. At a time where the Chinese bubble is beginning to burst (see the latest market crash forcing the Chinese Government had to intervene heavily), India will become more and more the land of opportunity. And you American Indians will be left behind, if you do not open your eyes NOW. FG

3 responses to “O HINDUS OF AMERICA, COME HOME (2)”

went to france spain portugal recently. it was my first step outside india. europe is beautiful but … but can’t leave india.can’t leave my motherland whatever the disadvantages irrespective of future advantages of india. this is land of hinduism [ not religion , but way of life ]

Next time you are in the US meet with people and staff at HAF – Hindu American Foundation. You will see there are Indians even in the second generation who are connected to both India and Hinduism. http://www.hafsite.org/

Gauthier, meet also academic Vamsee Juluri who wrote Rearming Hinduism next you are in US. And if you have not already, please also meet Rajiv Malhotra. Also meet the authors of this book Invading the Sacred available for free download here http://rajivmalhotra.com/books/invading-sacred/